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HOSIERY A Original Filed April 11`. 1957 INVENTORS WAL rm C. ELDER DcLas M. ELDER AGENTS yHOS-IERY Waiter Clifton Elder Vand Delos Montgomery Elder, Burlington, N; C.

Original No. 2,199,151, dated July 16), 1957, Serial No. 652,311, April 11, 1957. Application for reissue July 11, 1957, Serial No.- 676,461

7 Claims. (Cl. 66-172) Matter4 enclosed in heavy brackets E appears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissue speeltication; matter printed inl italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

The present invention relates to" improved hosiery', and more particularly' to' improved half hosiery' for men having aL new and` noveltop portion therewith.

For many years half hosiery for mensuchl as, for example,y arm-y or worle socks, have consisted of a knitted body and foot portionl and a topportion4 possessing a ribbed appearance. Such-hosiery isnormally designated as= mock4 ribor accordia-nsocks. Hosiery of this type long; hasbeen' in use, but have been objectionable in that the socks do not remain encased in snug engagement about-ther calf of.thewearer.- This characteristic' is due tor the' fact that the mock rib top portion' does not pos- Sess true elastic.v characteristics. As a result, after one or twowearingsA the top portion-` o'f= the sockisi stretched completely out of shape Inn an effortv toz overcome thisv basic disadvantage pos'- scssecL by hosieryl of this type,1, a rubber thread or' yarn has been.- knittedy into the topportion, inwhole or in part,v to impartelasticity, thereto= permitting the top to function. as a garterl to insure the proper engagement of the hose about the calf of a user. WhileV this form' of hosiery impartedthe desiredt elasticity, the presence of the` rubber yarn created new problems, botht from the standpoint'` of manufacture as-Vwell'as usage. From the knitting operation, the use of the rubber yar-n required avery closey controllon the machine. y'This is due to the factth-at the rubber yarn Vmust be knittedy in-vaE tensionedstateandn such: tension,4 due to thev inherent characteristics. ofY rubber, constantly changes.. I

' From aIk users. standpoint,.. the presence ofthe rubber yarnk in the top portion causes thev top portionof the sock to bindthe wearers ankle excessively, andoftentimes results ina chating and other'vdiscornforts to the wearer; Moreover, therubber yarn isfeasilyl broken-and oftentimes, When stretching the` sock? to put it on; the rubber yarn is' broken,.thus destroying the elasticity' of the4 top: portion. quite frequently, due to the .Wearing` and continued-washing ofth'e socks, since rubber inherently deteriorates at a rapidrate. n

It has been foundthat these foregoing and relateddisadvantages can be eliminated by. providing-y hosiery for meninlwhich stretchy, synthetic yarn` suchaspfor example, ofth:e nylon type, is knittedwith ynon-elastic yarn- 'for the formation of the hosiery` toptl:ierebyl providingy th'e desired'rib' appearance, and imparting the-necessary elasticity thereto withall possibility of binding.. and

breakage;b'eing,eliminated,.and which requires no con-f stant control durin'gits manufacture. l

Itis 'therefore a.-prin:ip,all object o'f/thepresent invention to provide` af/new, .nove1,.and improved hosiery.

Y Anothevobject oflthevpresent Ainvention is to'provide hosieryi that will possessethe sameV appearanceas hosieryheretofore manufactured with:nonef'offthefdisadvantages: A furthere. object of i theffpresentainventi'on is@ tlre`-pro=`- This sameioss#offelasticityl also occurs United States Patent Or Re. 24,384 'Reissues oct.- 29, 1957 2 vision of hosiery which will snugly engage the wearers leg and calf at all times,l withv no binding thereof.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of hosiery having a truly' elastic top portion Which will retain its elasticity at all times.

Yet another object o'f the present invention is the provision of hosiery that requires no ciose control during its knitting operation to 'insure' the production of uniform Ihosiery. n

Another object,` of the present4 invention isy the provsion of hosiery that can be manufactured more cheply than heretofore.

Other and additional objects will become manifest from the ensuing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Broadly stated, the hosiery of the present invention comprisesI a knitted leg; and foot portion' and a ribbed top portion',y at least a plurality of the courses of said top portion being of stretchy,I synthetic yarn;

To' the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the present invention then consists 'of the means hereinafter fullyV described and particularly pointedl out inl the claims, the annexed' drawing and they following description setting forth in detail= certain means inthe carrying` out of the invention, suchdisclosedmeans illustrating, however, but Vone of various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed;

The present invention is illustrated,- by way of example, in the accompanying drawings; in which: Y v

Figure l is an'V enlarged illustration of the fabri'cV in which thestretchy, synthetic yarnis incorporated with the non-stretchy yarnlin the top portion Yto impart the elastic characteristics thereto with a few wales and courses of fabric being included. y,

Figurer?, isA a side elevation of hosiery for nien made in accordance with the present invention: n

Referring nowto the drawings, andj with;particular reference 4to Fig. 1, ,Va fragmentary knitted fabric is shown. The fabric illustrates the' incorporation of the synthetic, stretchy yarn with theinelastic yarn to form thetopy portion. Several courses illustrating: the body portionof-the-hosiery are likewise included.

The'V illustrated fabric, as show n, comprises courses 1f to 14, said coursesA including wales 15 to'27.V The base fabric may be knitted with a synthetic, stretchy yarn-28 and an inelastic yarn 29 on a' conventional'circular knitl ting-machine to form the hosiery top inlany4 manner insuringthe incorporation of the stretchy yarn thereink with the resultingdesiredstretch, proper retaining characteristics, and rib a'ppearancerbeing` obtained: After the formation ofv the-top portion,ine1astic yarnis usedb throughout to complete the formation of the hosiery.

As illustrated, the fabric is formed by knitting the stretchy yarn 29 withalternate needles onlyin th'e alternatel odd-numbered wales 145,717, 19, 21, 23,125, and27' while the inelastic yarn 30 is knitted on all n'eedlesin wales 1S to 27. By knitting-the stretchy yarn 29 with-4k the alternate needles, the` even numbered wales 16,-.'18;

20, 22,24, and 26 are forced to the outer face of thefabric` 10 to produce the'desired rib effect- This knitting yoperation is conventional and is` accomplished by feeding the inelastic yarn 29 to all'the needles atV the auxiliary feeding station.

under tension-consistent with the knitting?A of uniform fabric: Duet to the inherent memory" characteristics of the stretchy yarn, a constari'tk tting tensin maybe?" applied" witl virtuallyl no p'e'rirodic adjustment thereof beiirg required. Thereafter,1 throughout a` plurality of courses suiiicient to knit the amount of fabric necessary for the formation of the desired top, the stretchy yarn 29 is fed at the auxiliary side to the alternate needles while the inelastic or non-stretchy yarn is fed to all needles at the main side. As illustrated, this operation is continued through courses 1-12. After the knitting of course 12, the top portion is complete, and the body of the hosiery is now ready to be knitted. In this operation, lighter Weight inelastic yarn may, if desired, be substituted for the inelastic yarn used in the top formation during the formation of the body portion of the hose. To accomplish this, yarn 30 is substituted and knitted in courses 13 and 14, which diagrammatically represent the body portion of hosiery fabrics.

The fabric, as shown, therefore, is essentially a twofeed fabric with alternate even numbered courses 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 being knitted with the inelastic or non-stretchy yarn 29 with all needles, while the intermediate odd numbered courses 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 are knitted by alternate needles only engaging and knitting the stertchy yarn 28. Courses 13 and 14 diagrammatically represent courses of the body portion of the hose knitted in the conventional manner to produce a non-ribbed appearance and in which the same or lighter weight inelastic yarn 30 may be employed.

It is to be noted that it is within the spirit and scope of the present invention to form a top portion in which only a necessary number of courses are knitted with the stretchy yarn suicient to retain the hosiery in the desired Wearing state. The remaining courses of the top portion then Will have inelastic yarn substituted for the stretchy yarn at the auxiliary feeding station to complete the formation of the top. If it is desired to produce hosiery having a ribbed effect throughout, the top portion is knitted in the manner hereinbefore described with the stretchy yarn being used in a plurality or all of the courses of the top portion. After the completion of the top portion, the same or lighter Weight inelastic yarn is fed at the auxiliary station for knitting on alternate needles with the same type yarn being fed at the main station on all needles to complete the formation of the body portion and imparting a rib appearance thereto.

Referring noW to Fig. 2, the hosiery knitted in the manner hereinbefore described and generally designated by reference letter A is shown. The hosiery A comprises the top portion B, the leg portion C, and the foot portion D. The top portion B, as shown, includes the combination of the stretchy, synthetic yarn and the nonstretchy or inelastic yarn in the manner hereinbefore described. The remaining body portion C and foot portion D are knitted with the inelastic or non-stretchy yarn, and may be either in rib o-r plain form. Similarly, the top portion B, as hereinbefore indicated, may only have a part thereof knitted with the stretchy, synthetic yarn, with the remaining part of the top portion being knitted With the inelastic yarn to impart the rib appearance thereto.

The invention as thus described may be applied to hosiery, such as mens, womens, and childrens socks and stockings known as half hose, which extend as far as part way up on the calf of the wearer, such as, for example, army or Work socks, or argyles, as well as hosiery of the type known as ankle socks. The hosiery A made in accordance with the preesnt invention allows the top portion to sustain the hosiery as strongly and firmly as the rubber-containing hosiery made heretofore with absolutely no constriction or binding of the Wearers legs. Similarly, vthe hose A will retain its elasticity indefinitely due to the memory characteristics of the stretchy yarn employed therein. The cost of manufacture of hosiery of this type is less and the knitting operation requires no careful control to positively insure proper tensioning of the yarn.

By the term stretchysynthetic yarn as employed herein and in the appended claims, it is meant to include any type of synthetic thermoplastic multi-filament or mono-filament yarns in which the stretchy characteristics have been imparted thereto by either crimping, and heating the yarn while in a crimped state to render it permanently elastic, by twisting the yarn to a ply twist through setting the twist With heat and then untwisting to form the elastic yarn, or such as the Z twist or plied S and Z twist yarn, or by curling, and in which the yarn made by any of these methods is characterized by a latent torque, curl, coil, or spiral which before knitting has stretchable characteristics. Examples of such yarn are nylon, which is preferred, Daeron (a condensation polymer of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol), Orlon (polyacrylonitrile), etc. This term does not include any synthetic yarns or fibers which inherently possess elastic properties, such, for example, synthetic rubber.

By the term inelastic, or non-stretch, or nonsynthetic yarn employed herein and in the appended claims in producing the top portion and the foot portion of the hosiery, it is intended to dene any yarn possessing no ability to stretch materially under tension, and which will return to its normal shape when the tension has been released. Such yarns include any inelastic yarn such as, for example, Wool, cotton, silk, rayon, acetate, nylon, Orlon, Dacron, or combination inelastic yarn made from any of the foregoing. The preferred inelastic yarn is any of the foregoing which has been spun, and a particular preference is had for cotton or Wool.

While there have been described herein what are at present considered preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications and changes may be made therein Without departing from the essence of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that the exemplary embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims, and that all modifications that come Within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be included therein.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Serial No. 626,174, filed December 4, 1956, which is now abandoned.

We claim:

l. A self-supporting knitted article of hosiery comprising a foot, a leg, and an elastic top, said top having at least a plurality of courses alternately of stretchy nylon yarn and inelastic non-synthetic yarn, said inelastic yarn being knitted at every Wale and said stretchy yarn being knitted at least at alternate Wales and floated across intervening wales.

2. A self-supporting knitted article of hosiery comprising a foot, a leg, and an elastic top, said top having all of its courses alternately of stretchy nylon yarn and an inelastic non-synthetic yarn, said inelastic yarn being knitted at every Wale and said stretchy yarn being knitted at least at alternate Wales and oated across intervening wales.

3. A self-supporting knitted article of hosiery comprising a foot, a leg, and an elastic top, said top having at least a plurality of courses alternately of stretchy nylon yarn and cotton yarn, said cotton yarn being knitted at every Wale and said stretchy yarn being knitted at least.

at alternate wales and oated across intervening Wales.

4. A self-supporting knitted article of hosiery comprising a foot, a leg, and an elastic top, said top having all of its courses alternately of stretchy nylon yarn andA cotton yarn, said cotton yarn being knitted at every Wale and said stretchy yarn being knitted at least at alternate Wales and oated across intervening Wales.

5.I A self-supporting knitted article of hosiery comprising a foot, a leg, and an elastic top, said top having at least a plurality of courses of stretchy, synthetic, thermoplastic yarn having stretchy characteristics imparted thereto and a plurality of courses of inelastic yarn, said inelastic yarn being knitted at every wale and said stretchy yarn being knitted at least at alternate wales and oated across intervening wales.

6. A self-supporting knitted article of hosiery cornprising a foot, a leg, and an elastic top, said top having at least a plurality of courses alternately of stretchy, synthetic, thermoplastic yarn having stretchy characteristics imparted thereto and spun inelastic yarn, said inelastic yarn being knitted at every wale and said stretchy yarn being knitted at least at alternate wales and oated across intervening wales.

7. A self-supporting knitted article of hosiery comprising a foot, a leg, and' an elastic top, said top having at least a plurality of courses of stretchy, synthetic, thermoplastic yarn having stretchy characteristics imparted thereto and a plurality of courses of inelastic yarn, said inelastic yarn being knitted at every wale and said stretchy yarn being knitted at selected wales.

References Cited in the le of this patent or the original patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

